Highalt's 2013 Grow - End of Season Wrap Up

I know some of you guys have already started seeds for next year's grow, and I should have started the Manzano's a month ago, but I am still working on finalizing the grow list.

Each year since I started growing peppers, the list has gotten bigger, and they have taken up a larger % of my vegetable growing space. I started working part-time 3 months ago, and I am a mother of three, so I am struggling with being realistic about how much time I can devote to pepper growing this coming season. Right now, I've got between 65 and 70 varieties on the list, and some of them I'd really like to have more than one plant. Last year, I ended up with about 50 varieties and a total of 75 plants. So you can see that I have some work to do before I start putting the seeds in the dirt!

I thought I would go ahead and put up my tentative list, and use the feedback I get from you guys to help me narrow things down a bit. Those of you that know me will notice that I still haven't gotten brave enough to add any supers yet ... maybe next year.

So here's what I got so far:

Annums
Alice's Favorite
Alma Paprika
Ancho Gigantia, and/or Ancho San Luis
Barker (NuMex)
Biker Billy Jalapeno
Black Hungarian
Cayenne Thick (Can't remember who it was that was raving about this one this past season, but I don't have seeds for this one yet.)
Chilhuacle Amarillo
Chocolate Cherry
Cochiti
Cosa Arrugada and/or Pepperoncini
Costeno Amarillo
Fish
Fresno
Georgia Flame
Goat's Weed
Golden Cayenne
Hungarian Hot Wax
Jaloro
Jamaican Hot Yellow (Anyone have a source for these? It's confusing to me that the Jamaican Hot Choc. is a Chinense, but this one is listed as an Anuum!)
Jimmy Nardello
Leutschauer Paprika
Lumbre
Mulato Isleno
NuMex Pinata
NuMex Vaquero
Patio Red Marconi
Pusztagold
Sandia
Sante Fe Grande
Serrano (Not sure which one. May try the purple one this year.)
Tangerine Pimento and/or Yummy
Tobasco (Need seeds for this one.)
Zapotec Jalapeno

Baccatums
Aji Chinchi Amarillo
Aji Yellow
Birgit's Locoto
Bishop's Crown (Don't actually have seeds for this one yet. If anyone has some, I'd be willing to trade for them.)
El Oro de Equador
Inca Red Drop
Lemon Drop (Maybe. Last time they were bitter. May try a difference source.)
Pimenta Barro do Robiero
Purple de Arbol and/or Negro de Arbol (Which one is better?)

Chinenses
Aji Dulce (type 1 or 2 ?) Is this the same as Rocotillo?
Aji Limo Rojo
Bonda ma Jacques (Don't have seeds for this one yet either. May just grow Gold Bullet or regular yellow habanero as a substitute?)
Cheiro Roxa
Habanero, Peach (and maybe the Pink as well)
Habanero, White (I have the regular white, and White Bullet. Is the Peruvian White better, or are they all about the same?)
Jamaican Hot Chocolate
Purple Bhut (Okay, I don't have seeds for this one either. Maybe I'll substitute Condor's Beak if I can't find any.)
Scotch Bonnet Yellow (Have some labeled True Jamaican Scotch Bonnet. Should those be yellow? Or red?)

Pubescens (Yeah, I know I'm really too late on these, and probably won't get any ripe fruit this coming season)
Orange Manzano
Red Manzano
Yellow Manzano


Well, I think that's about it. I'm sure the list will change a few more times before it's a done deal, but at least it's a start!

So tell me what you think about the ones I have questions on, or let me know where to find seeds for the ones I'm missing, or tell me what I should have on the list and don't. Just kidding on that last one!!!

 

[stc3248]

What??? Forecasters wrong??? That never happens!!! Sucks man...I was in El Paso in the early 80s and we got a 5" snow on April 8th. We went on to have a record breaking summer, so keep your head up brother!. It'll get here!!! Shoveling still sucks though...

 

[DesertChris]

Spring snows aren't so bad. They usually melt pretty fast. It's supposed to be in the upper 50's by the weekend.


So non-chileheads are always asking me what do you do with all those peppers. I usually explain about canning a lot of salsa, and making various powders, but I am usually met with a blank stare, like it just doesn't add up in their minds.

Anyway, I don't have time to make throwdown quality meals during the week with soccer practices, meetings, Praise Team practice, etc., but I thought I would show a simple way that I use my harvest.



This just went in the oven. It's Salsa Chicken. Sprinkled the boneless breasts with various pepper powders, and other seasonings, then just dumped a jar of my homemade salsa that I canned last summer over the top. Once it's cooked through, I'll just melt some cheddar cheese on top, and cook a veggie or two to go with it. Viola! A tasty, quick weeknight meal.

I

Dangit, now I am hungry again, and it is bedtime...lol

I need to stop reading on here before bedtime...

 

[highalt]

For today's installment of simple ways to use your pepper harvest, I present Baked Tilapia

Add some salt, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and some Chilhuacle Amarillo, and Sandia powders to your vegetable oil of choice, and paint it on. Sprinkle a little parmesan on top, and throw it in the oven. Tonight's side dishes are sweet potato fries also sprinkled with pepper powder, and steamed cauliflower. I would have preferred some black-eyed peas being a southern girl, but we were all out!




I forgot to mention that the piece on the far right also has some of the Manzano powder I made last year from Shane's pods!.


Plated



Hey, if you look real close you can see the steam coming off cauliflower!

 

[highalt]

What??? Forecasters wrong??? That never happens!!! Sucks man...I was in El Paso in the early 80s and we got a 5" snow on April 8th. We went on to have a record breaking summer, so keep your head up brother!. It'll get here!!! Shoveling still sucks though...

Wow, that is a late snow for that far south!

Well, you know you live in Colorado when they don't even cancel U6 soccer games with snow still on the ground! Unbelievable!!!


I was really jonesing to do some gardening this morning, and as I mentioned there's still snow outside, so after feeding and watering all the pepper and tomato babies, I sowed some Jing Orange okra, lemongrass, Mrs. Burns lemon basil, and some Italian Large Leaf basil. I wanted to sow some purple basil, and there's one spot left in the tray, but I couldn't find anymore of the 2" pots in the garage, so that one will have to wait till later.

Not a lot happening with the pepper plants, they are still chugging along slowly, but I'll try and get a pic or two in a bit.

 

[Sawyer]

I just ordered some Jing Orange okra seeds, from Bakers Creek.

 

[highalt]

I just ordered some Jing Orange okra seeds, from Bakers Creek.

That's where mine came from too! It says on the package that they produce early, and do well even in dry climates, so they sound perfect for me. Being from the south, I keep trying to grow okra here, but so far I haven't bee very successful. Not giving up yet though!


UPDATE:

Grow table



It looks like this Biker Billy is trying to form some buds.



This Condor's Beak got a little sunburned. I moved the lights up a little, but the leaf curl he has had from the beginning. Both of the Aji Limo Rojo's have it too! Anything I can do to correct?



Lighting's bad in this pic, but you can still see the fuzziness on the Yellow Manzano.



Overhead shot of some of the annuums



Close up of the Purple Bhut from Melissa's seed.



Shane's Fatalii really starting to fill back in now!



Gold Currant Tomato sprouts. Not sure if I'll like the taste or not, but may have to grow them again, just because they are cute!



Some other various tomatoes



Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry sprouts starting to show some true leaves.




After I get a bump, I've got a few pics of the Melvinized plants.

 

[stickman]

Bump! Love the foodie shots... what else is there to do when it snows?

You might want to look into solar mulch for those Okra plants. I think the only reason my Habanero harvest came out as well as it did last year was because of it, and I'll be using it with the squash and cucumbers this year too.

 

[highalt]

Rick, I agree the solar mulch would be beneficial for the okra, but without going into the depressing details, let's just say we've sort of fallen off a fiscal cliff. Hopefully, things will turn around soon...

Anyway, on a positive note, the Melvinized peppers are making a comeback. Here is the tray, and you can see the ones he got to are all on the right hand side.



Jaloro



Ancho San Luis. So glad this one's pulling through. I have an Ancho Grande, and an Ancho Gigantia, but this was the only San Luis.



Wenk's Yellow Hot



Hungarian Hot Wax



Still not sure about this Fresno, but I have two others I think, so not counting on this one.



Guess that's all for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend! It's soccer tonight and soccer tomorrow, well, unless the forecasters are right about that 50% chance of snow tonight.

 

[Devv]

Sorry 'bout the snow up there in the frozen north!

Your grow looks great! You have the green thumb on both hands. Now just keep Mr., or is it Mrs. kitty away

 

[highalt]

Sorry 'bout the snow up there in the frozen north!

Your grow looks great! You have the green thumb on both hands. Now just keep Mr., or is it Mrs. kitty away

Well, the snow had melted by game time, but you can see from the hoodies, headbands, and mittens, that is was pretty darn cold. Been home for a couple of hours now, and still can't seem to warm up!!!




Oh, and it's Mr. Melvin. Hopefully, we won't have anymore houseguests before it's time to plant out. He doesn't get by on MY watch!

 

[stc3248]

I posted the other day thinking I was on Rick's page...hence the "man" and "brother" sub with lady and sister! Anyway, clad to see the little ones coming back, there is still some Melvidence in a few of those pics...he left dna samples on the Ancho and Yellow Hot! Guilty! Wait...was he wearing gloves??? How did they fit??? Kiddos look cool playing some soccer! Good luck with the Okra...mine didn't fare well last year either. I used to grow trees down south, I think I could have put them in a better spot and they would have done fine. Finally the fatalii looks nice...always glad to send plants to a good home.

Sorry to hear of the fiscal cliff woes. Many Civilians on our base are feeling the pain of the current situation too...will get worse for them before better once the furloughs start. A lot of belt tightening is going to have to happen for folks. I look back on how little I made when I first joined and wonder how we did it...but we did! Of course gas was .72 a gallon then. Keep those plants green...they're great therapy!

 

[highalt]

Haha! Shane, I wondered about those references, but then, just assumed you thought of me as "one of the boys". Yeah, I didn't notice the cat hairs until I looked at the photos!

So either I wasn't very observant when I was watering yesterday, or the plants really took off overnight, but I found 3 annuums with buds this afternoon.

Patio Red Marconi



Cochiti



Yummy




So I've seen plenty of blooms and pods on indoor grows, but then I have also heard to pinch them off until they go outside. So is there a general rule as to when to pinch, and when to leave the buds???

 

[Sanarda]

Wow here comes the buds. Very nice Bonnie. plants look real good. I think that one Fresno will make it.

 

[stickman]

Hi Bonnie
Nice to see buds on your babies... I guess they're champing at the bit, eh?

My general rule of thumb is to pinch the buds if the mature pods are longer than the plant... Actually, for the Annuums, I like them to be at least a foot tall before I let them keep their flowers.

 

[stc3248]

I usually let annuums fork then fork again before keeping any...just to let them build a bigger frame before they concentrate on fruit. Fruit does slow them down. Your season is different than mine though. I have a nice long season and can afford to put off fruit production longer. Maybe a side by side is in order! Try pinching some and not on others and see which plants give you the most bang for the time spent this season!!!

 

[Pulpiteer]

This Condor's Beak got a little sunburned. I moved the lights up a little, but the leaf curl he has had from the beginning. Both of the Aji Limo Rojo's have it too! Anything I can do to correct?

I'm not sure what to do to correct it, with that sort of thing the new growth takes care of it in my experience. I've got a similar issue with a few of mine that got too close to the lights before I moved the lights up higher.

Looking great Bonnie - sorry to see that snow awhile back. Yuk. We've had bad weather later this year than normal over here in Michigan - but spring really is coming, right?

 

[highalt]

It's been a tough week, both on and off the soccer field, but at least the weather has improved. Temperatures in the 70's all weekend. There is a very slight chance of snow, with a low below freezing in the forecast for Wednesday night, so not quite out of the woods yet.

I have decided I am going to wait as long as possible before starting the hardening off process, due to not having much time for hauling them in and out, and not wanting to deal with the inevitable aphid issues. Sooooo, what is the minimum amount of time needed to properly harden these babies off?

UPDATE:

The tomatoes are catching up to the peppers. Man those things grow FAST!!!






The basil and lemongrass are starting to sprout.




First chinense bud, White Habanero



First baccatum bud, Aji Chinchi Amarillo



Attack victims making a nice recovery!



The late sprouters and extra tomato sprouts




Zapotec Jalapeno




Guess that's all for now. There is a lot of work to be done in the perennial flower beds today, and the grass is just about ready for a cut. I'm holding off as long as I can on that, since our irrigation water doesn't get turned on until sometime in May. Cutting it just makes it dry out even faster. When I was digging out the weeds and grass from the beds yesterday, I was surprised how dry the soil already was for this early in the season, and parts of the grass are already crunchy. That 8" of snow a couple of weeks ago, didn't last very long!!!

 

[stickman]

I'm itchin' to get you outside sister, and to that end I'm trying to talk the powers that be into sending you warmer spring weather!

 

[Devv]

Plants are looking very nice! This year was my first to grow everything (almost) from seed, and yes the maties out run those peppers. So next year the peeps get a 30 day head start.

Keep your chin up warmer weather is a comin'

 

[highalt]

I'm itchin' to get you outside sister, and to that end I'm trying to talk the powers that be into sending you warmer spring weather!

We did have a brief warm up, with highs in the 70's the past few days, so thanks for that, Rick! Winds have been 30 - 45 mph for the past 8 hours, and there is a chance of snow overnight. Chances are there won't be any accumulation though. The bigger concern is the low of 27 degrees predicted tomorrow night. That's just the way it is around here this time of year. The weather is like a roller coaster ride. I'm pretty sure the ride won't be over until closer to Memorial Day, so I will just have to be patient for a couple more weeks.

Plants are looking very nice! This year was my first to grow everything (almost) from seed, and yes the maties out run those peppers. So next year the peeps get a 30 day head start.

Keep your chin up warmer weather is a comin'

The tomatoes are threatening a takeover. I may have to pot them up this weekend and start hardening them off. I have half a dozen wall-o-waters, so I'm tempted to stick a few in the ground ...